Shipping container



Nov. 15, 1960 H. A. NASON SHIPPING CONTAINER Filed Oct. 20, 1958 INVENTOR.

A N A SON HAROLD Hi5 ATTORNEY aired. tates fiatent @fiee Zfififlil? Patented Nov. 15, 1960 SHIPPING CGNTAINER Harold A. Nason, Louisville, Ky, assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed Oct. 20, 1958, Ser. No. 768,112

1 Claim. (Cl. 206-46) This invention relates to shipping containers, and more particularly to shipping packs for articles such as large household appliances.

The general object of the invention is to provide an improved low cost shipping pack which utilizes to the fullest extent the load bearing capacity of corrugated fiberboard when compressed along lines parallel to the corrugations, and also the resilience of this material when compressed along lines perpendicular thereto.

Further objects and advantages of the invention Will become apparent as the following description proceeds, and the features of novelty which characterize the invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claim annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

Briefly stated, in accordance with one aspect of this invention there is provided a shipping container or pack for large household appliances and the like which includes a sleeve member and end caps forming the outer walls of the pack, supporting skids of novel wood and fiberboard construction arranged to be temporarily secured to the bottom of the appliance, fiberboard corner posts of generally V-shaped configuration arranged to resiliently support the appliance within the container walls and a spacer member of fiberboard construction adapted to be positioned on the top surface of the appliance so as to protect the surface thereof and also perform an auxiliary supporting function when other articles are stacked on top of the pack during storage.

For a better understanding of this invention, reference may be made to the following description and the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. l is a perspective View of a shipping pack embodying the features of the present invention, some of the parts being broken away to show details of construction.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the spacer member utilized in the shipping pack shown in Fig. l.

The numeral 1 designates a large household appliance (shown in broken lines) which in the present embodiment of my invention is, by way of illustration, a household refrigerator. It will be understood, however, that the invention may be utilized in shipping packs for various articles of generally rectangular configuration. The walls of refrigerator 1 are generally fiat and unobstructed, except that a door handle 2 projects forwardly from the plane of the refrigerator door 3. In order to protect projecting members such as handle 2, I provide conventional spacer pads 4, 5, 6 and 7 formed of laminated layers of corrugated fiberboard which are positioned on unobstructed portions of the door and are arranged to project outwardly beyond the outermost surface of handle 2.

A pair of supporting skids 8 are secured to the bottom of refrigerator 1 by suitable temporary fastening means. In accordance with my invention these skids are so arranged that they not only distribute the weight of the refrigerator over a relatively large area but also dampen or absorb vertical movement of the refrigerator during shipment so that the possibility of damage to the refrigerator caused by vibration or vertical crushing forces is reduced. Each of skids 8 comprises a pair of spaced parallel wood strips 9 and 14 which form the upper and lower surfaces of the skid, and an intermediate fiberboard member 11 sandwiched between strips 9 and 10 and bonded thereto.

Wood strip 9 is preferably made of hardwood and is sufliciently thick /2 inch to 1 inch, for example) to make the skid rigid enough to prevent rupture of fiberboard member 11. Strip 10 is preferably a strip of thin plywood which performs the function of providing a scuff resistant bottom surface. Fiberboard member 11 comprises a plurality of vertically disposed strips of corrugated fiberboard assembled in f-ace-to-face relation and secured by a suitable adhesive, with the corrugations thereof running vertically (i.e., perpendicular to the plane of wood strips 9 and 10). The top surface of fiberboard member 11 is bonded by means of a suitable adhesive to the lower surface of wood strip 9, and the bottom surface of member 11 is likewise bonded to the top surface of plywood strip 10. Skid 8 is, of course, temporarily secured to refrigerator 1 by means of suitable bolts, for example (not shown).

Fiberboard member 11 possesses ample strength to support the weight of refrigerator 1, but nevertheless provides a certain degree of resilience which enables skid 8 to absorb some of the vibration to which the pack is subjected during'transportation in railroad cars and the like. Furthermore, if the shipping pack is subjected to a vertical crushing force the fiberboard member will partially collapse before the force is transmitted to refrigerator 1, and thus damage thereto may be prevented.

When skids 8 are mounted on refrigerator 1, they are positioned so as to extend laterally outwardly from the refrigerator walls so as to provide a footing for upright structural supporting members arranged to provide the principal means for supporting the weight of additional shipping packs which may be stacked on top of the pack disclosed herein. As shown in the drawing, the supporting members may be corner posts 12 of generally V- shaped cross sectional configuration, each being constructed so as to extend vertically along one of the vertical edges of refrigerator 1.

Each of the corner posts 12 is formed from a strip of vertically corrugated fiberboard folded along a multiplicity of spaced lines paralleled to the corrugations and suitably joined in overlapping end-over-end relation so as to form a pair of spaced V-shaped walls 13 and 14. It will be seen that V-shaped walls 13 and 14 are of unequal extent, having common end portions and spaced center portions so that a certain degree of resilience is provided when the post is placed in compression along a line passing through the center portions of the two walls. The overlapping portions of fiberboard forming V-shaped wall 13 are preferably joined together by a suitable adhesive. Also, the exposed surface of V-shaped wall 13 is preferably coated with a paraflin wax so that the portions thereof which come into contact with the surface of the refrigerator will not scratch or mar the surface finish. With regard to the length of the corner post 12, it will be observed that each extends substantially above the top surface of refrigerator 1 so that the load imposed by another shipping pack stacked on top of the one shown in Fig. 1 will be primarily supported by the corner posts.

Referring to Fig. 2, there is illustrated therein a spacer member generally designated by the numeral 15 which is arranged to perform the function of maintaining the end wall or cap at the top of the pack in spaced relationship with the top surface of refrigerator 1 and also the function of providing auxiliary supports for other shipping packs stacked thereon during long periods of storage when corner posts 12 may be somewhat weakened and fail to support the load properly. As shown in Fig. 1, a pair of spacer members 15 are utilized in the shipping pack disclosed herein. Each spacer member 15 includes a fiberboard base 16 having a main horizontal portion adapted to rest on the top surface of the refrigerator and depending flap portions 17, 18, 19 and 20 adapted to engage or cooperate with the sides of the refrigerator so as to partially restrain lateral movement of base 16 with respect thereto.

Secured to the top surface of the horizontal portion of the fiberboard base 16 is a support pad 21 comprising a number of vertically disposed strips of corrugated fiberboard adhesively secured together in laminated fashion with the corrugations thereof running horizontally. Support pad 21 includes two enlarged sections 22 and 23 located so as to overlie the corners of the refrigerator, and the entire pad is adhesively secured to a backing strip of corrugated fiberboard 24 having vertical corrugations and positioned so as to constitute a vertical extension of flap 19 when the latter is folded down and mounted in place as shown in Fig. 1. It will be observed that when spacer member 15 is mounted on the refrigerator, the top surface of support 21 is below the upper ends of corner posts 12 so that the support pads do not ordinarily support any weight other than that of the outer wall of the pack. As shown in Fig. 1, an additional flap portion 25 on spacer member 15 may be utilized to secure spacer pads 6 and 7 in position adjacent the upper edges of the front of the refrigerator. Thus, pad 6 may be initially glued to flap 20, and when the pack is assembled flap 25 is then glued to the opposite surface of the pad; similarly pad 7 may be secured in place in the same manner.

Refrigerator 1 and all of the shipping pack components described thus far are enclosed in a protective box structure which includes a fiberboard sleeve member 26 of generally rectangular cross-sectional configuration and of sufficient size to encompass the refrigerator and the above mentioned shipping pack components. Also, a pair of end caps 27 and 28 are arranged in locking engagement with the upper and lower ends of sleeve 26 respectively. Preferably an interlocking fiap arrangement of well known design as shown in the drawing is utilized in securing the end caps to sleeve 26, and conventional steel straps (not shown) encircling the flap portions of the end caps are put in place and tightened after all of the components of the shipping pack have been assembled. Since the wall portionof cap 27 is held in spaced relation with respect to the top surface of refrigerator 1 by means of spacer pads 21, the possibility that the surface finish thereof might be marred or scratched by rubbing movement of the inner surf-ace of the cap (resulting from laterally shifting movement of another shipping pack resting on top of cap 27, for example), is substantially eliminated.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided an improved shipping pack, made up almost entirely of corrugated fiberboard components, which possesses ample stacking strength even during humid weather and long storage periods, which is light in weight and is composed of relatively few parts, and which is low in cost as a result of the extensive use of relatively inexpensive corrugated fiberboard.

While 1 have shown and described a particular embodiment of my invention, I do not desired the invention to be limited to the particular construction disclosed, and I intend by the appended claim to cover all modifications within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

A shipping pack comprising a fiberboard container having therein an article of generally rectangular configuration, said pack comprising a pair of skids adapted to be temporarily secured to the bottom of the article so that portions thereof extend laterally outwardly from the article, each of said skids including a pair of spaced parallel Wood strips each bonded to an intermediate fiberboard member, said fiberboard member comprising a .plurality of vertically disposed strips of corrugated fiberboard assembled in face-to-face relation with the corrugations thereof running vertically, a plurality of corner posts of generally V-shaped cross-sectional configuration each adapted to rest on a portion of one of said skids and to extend along one of the vertical edges of the article, each of said corner posts being formed from a strip of vertically corrugated fiberboard folded along a multiplicity of spaced lines parallel to the corrugations thereof and having its edges joined in overlapping endover-end relation so as to form a pair of spaced V-shaped inner and outer walls of unequal extent having common end portions and spaced center portions, each of said corner posts being arranged with its inner wall in contact with one vertical edge of said article, at least one spacer member adapted to be positioned on the top surface of the article, said spacer member comprising a plurality of vertically disposed strips of corrugated fiberboard assembled in face-to-face relation with the corrugations thereof running horizontally, the top surface of said spacer member being below the upper ends of said posts whereby the load of another shipping pack placed on said pack will be primarily supported by said posts, a fiberboard sleeve member of generally rectangular cross-sectional configuration and of suflicient size to encompass the article and said skid and posts, .theoutermost surfaces of each of said posts being incontact with the inner surfaces of the adjacent corner of said sleeve, and a pair of end caps in locking engagemen with the upper and lower ends of said sleeve respectively.

i References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 974,871 Ferre Nov. 8, 1910 2,575,784 Baumann a- Nov. 20, 1951 2,692,064 Koester Oct. 19, 1954 2,783,930 Riley Mar. 5, 1957 2,818,972 Claus Ian. 7, 1958 2,846,959 Perry Aug. 12, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 79,762 Norway Feb. 18, 1952 84,326 Sweden Sept. 11, 1935 

